Rynne's show satirizes D.C. with riffs

While you might be familiar with piano-playing political satirists like Mark Russell, the 81-year-old best known for his shows on PBS and for his goofy jingles on the news of the day, you might not be familiar with Ken Rynne — yet.

Rynne has been trying to get his “Planet Washington” show, a satirical piano program that includes songs on Beltway news, gossip and history, to take off in a town so used to Russell.

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“It’s hard to be the next Mark Russell when folks have the original,” Rynne told POLITICO, noting that he got his start in political satire nearly 20 years ago with the Capitol Steps.

There’s no bad blood between the two, however; Rynne calls Russell an inspiration and notes that the two are friends. Russell has attended some of Rynne’s shows and even hopped onstage on occasion for a song.

“I do things differently than he does,” says Rynne, citing his love of ad-lib jokes and extemporaneous riffing as examples. He’ll do, for instance, a song about becoming a barista at Starbucks simply because he enjoys it — topicality be damned.

While Rynne might like to one day be out of Russell’s shadow, he’s using the association to his advantage until he is; he bills his show, which he next performs at Washington’s Westin Hotel on Nov. 2, as “ Political Satire in the Tradition of Mark Russell.”

His riffs typically are takes on the day’s news set to pop hits from the past half-century, like this one set to the “Beauty and the Beast” tune “Be Our Guest,” which looks at World War II vets, who during the recent federal shutdown, were locked out of the memorial erected in their honor:

“On Honor Flights / So on they fight / Whether Normandy, Iwo Jima or nerds. / If Hitler or Tojo could not stop their mojo / They’ll not be stopped by a Congress of turds.”

Rynne knows of what he speaks, having once been a lobbyist for MBNA and a Capitol Hill staffer for such pols as former Sen. Tom Daschle and Rep. Joe Kennedy.

Aside from distinguishing himself from Russell, Rynne says that the biggest challenge he faces is not offending the delicate sensibilities of Washingtonians … and their intelligence.

“People who are in the game appreciate the song and people who are just walking in off the street can appreciate it,” Rynne said. “I don’t do it with malice. I don’t do it to change anybody’s point of view or to insult anybody. It’s the kind of show where anybody can come in and hear some songs and laugh, if they have any sense of humor at all.”